What are the advantages and disadvantages of recruiting expatriate staff over local staff?

Companies tend to hire employees from all over the world to bring in expertise; those employees who come from abroad to work are called expatriate employees.

Advantages of hiring expatriates are as follows:

• Expatriates with improved skills and a higher set of knowledge tend to improve the quality of work within the organization.
• Local employees get motivated and also learn new skills and knowledge brought in by the expatriates.
• Local population might not have required skills and expertise which can affect organization growth.
• They may bring in competition for local employees to grow and also bring specialization to meet international quality standards.

Disadvantages of selecting expatriates over local people are:

• Feeling of resentment and aggression can arise among the local population.
• Expatriates hiring cost is often very high for the company, which means higher expenditure and increased cash outflow.
• Unhealthy competition among the local and expatriate employees can adversely affect an organization's growth.
• Expatriates generally have high burnout rates, which means they tend to leave the job early then local people.